In News Releases

For Immediate Release
December 14, 2016

Contact
Alex Rossman
arossman@mlpp.org
517.487.5436

LANSING—The Michigan League for Public Policy issued the following statement on the Senate’s passage today of House Bill 4982, legislation to address the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency’s automated fraud detection system and policies. The system has been incorrectly denying benefits for many workers who are eligible for and urgently in need of unemployment benefits. Learn more about the League’s work on unemployment insurance and how Michigan’s economic recovery is not reaching everyone. The statement may be attributed to League Vice President Karen Holcomb-Merrill.

“While Michigan’s economy may have recovered for some, too many people have yet to feel any relief and are still struggling to find work. Unemployment insurance is the lifeline for these workers and their families while they look for jobs, but at their greatest time of need, their benefits were being incorrectly rejected by a computer and getting tied up in bureaucratic red tape. This was a big problem, and we are pleased to see the Legislature act today to fix it.

“However, because of past policy decisions, unemployment insurance remains unavailable to many workers who need it, and those who do get it are often cut off before they have found work. We hope that in the next session, we can see this same bipartisan cooperation around expanding eligibility for unemployment benefits to more workers and once again allowing workers to receive benefits for up to 26 weeks as they look for work instead of the current maximum of 20 weeks.”

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The Michigan League for Public Policy, www.mlpp.org, is a nonprofit policy institute focused on economic opportunity for all. It is the only state-level organization that addresses poverty in a comprehensive way.

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